Dear Friend,
It was July,2013 when i got the opportunity to reach this remotest island in Krishna River, Neelkanthrai gaddi. I went there for a hydro project , KRISHNA HYDRO ELECTRIC LTD.
How to reach there?
From Hyderabad , take a Bus to Lingsugur. After Reaching there , you can leave for Kakera ( a small village where you can buy things for your daily use). Then proceed for Benchigaddi. Once you reach Benchigaddi, you can see the KHEL & an island in the river. This is the remotest place.
Why it is the remotest place ?
I crossed the river & reached the village. One of the villager knew Hindi, so, i can ask him various questions about the village. I came to know that they entirely depend on river for their daily water usage. They have build a temple on the eastern side of the island. I visited the same. Then i went to the river front. The guy accompanying me drank the water directly from the river & told me that they have been drinking this water since generations.
The Krishna river is rocky unlike the north indian rivers. It is very difficult to cross the river when it is full of water. It is very difficult to swim across as you can't see the rock beneath the water & river flow is very high. when i crossed the river it had dried as Almatty dam has stopped the water. The rocks were very slippery & was very difficult to coss the same.
There were very few homes there & most of them have started to migrate from there to Hyderabad or Bengaluru to lead a better life. There were few houses which were modern & some others which were abandoned.
There was a boundary fencing the entire village . I asked the guy about the same. who made this ? why ? & when was it made? He told me that their ancestors have made this wall to protect themselves from robberers who used to come & loot them from the eastern side of the island. I was amazed to hear that, but he didn't had knew when was it made.
Then i tried to see their social life. It appears that you have came here by a time machine & can see their simple life without electricity, water & no basic amenities.
It is difficult for me to give words to my feelings which i had at that time.
If interested to go there or have any other Querry, Do mail me : genx.hrd@gmail.com
